As shown in FIG. 1, equipment 1 is a known mammography apparatus.
Said mammography equipment allows for two-dimensional medical images to be obtained, in particular using X-ray radiography.
For this purpose, said known equipment 1 conventionally comprises: at least one X-ray source 2 comprising an X-ray emitting tube 21, and a detector platform 3 arranged opposite the source 2 and intended to receive and give support to a patient's breast (not illustrated).
The detector platform 3 conventionally comprises a breast support tray 30 that is substantially transparent or has little X-ray attenuation, and integrates a detector 31 for detecting the X-rays after they have passed through the patient's breast.
The detector 31 may conventionally be an array of sensors or an X-ray sensitive film cassette, or any other X-ray detector known to persons skilled in the art.
The detector platform 3 and the X-ray source 2 are carried by a common gantry 5 possibly having an angular range a around a central axis A-A′, relative to the detector platform 3 and the source 2, for scanning different viewing angles desired for mammography.
To take into account different patient heights, the gantry 5 is slidably mounted in a vertical structure 6. The gantry 5 can therefore be raised or lowered by a distance δ within the vertical structure 6.
Additionally, the apparatus 1 conventionally comprises a compression plate 4, known as a paddle by those skilled in the art, used to compress the breast against the detector platform 3 when taking images.
The paddle 4 is connected to a carriage 7 mounted in translation on the gantry 5 along a rail 8 extending immobile over the gantry 5 relative to the detector platform 3.
The movement of the carriage 7 along the rail 8 can be motorized or performed manually by means of thumb-wheels 71, for example.
The apparatus in FIG. 1 has disadvantages however.
The rail 8 extends immobile over the gantry 5 relative to the detector platform 3, and in addition lies entirely above the detector platform 3.
The rail 8, therefore, permanently takes up space in this upper part of the detector platform 3.
In addition, when the gantry 5 is moved over its angular range α, at some points it may cause pinching of the patient's breast during mammography or tomosynthesis, i.e., an entire sequence of radiographic images in a single cycle, allowing a three-dimensional radiological image of the patient's breast to be obtained. Equipment is, therefore, known, which comprises a source positioned on a support dissociated from the detector platform.
On account of the large amount of upper space that is taken up permanently, it is also difficult to access the patient's breast above the detector platform 3 when positioning the breast or during a procedure such as biopsy of the breast, for example, guided by the mammography or tomosynthesis image.